Both the House and Senate versions of a bill calling for more uniformity in and regular disclosures of state data have passed through their respective chambers. If voted into law, the policy will be “first formalized step towards an open data regime,” as state Sen. Bill Ferguson, who introduced the Open Data Policy, told Technical.ly Baltimore in January.

According to a spokeswoman from Ferguson’s office, one of the bills needs to still make it out of the opposite chamber in the General Assembly. “If there are amendments that make the two slightly different, they will be sent into conference committee, which is made up of members of both the house and the senate to find a compromise between the two bills,” she said via e-mail.

Andrew Zaleski is a freelance journalist in Philadelphia and the former lead reporter for Technical.ly Baltimore. Before moving to Philadelphia in June 2014, he was a contributing writer to Baltimore City Paper and a Tech Check commentator for WYPR 88.1 FM, Baltimore city’s National Public Radio affiliate. He has written for The Atlantic, Outside, Richmond magazine, Washington City Paper, Baltimore magazine, Baltimore Style magazine, Next City, Grist.org, The Atlantic Cities, and elsewhere.